No Man’s Sky Big 1.3 Update Adds New Multiplayer Support And Much More; Here’s The Patch Notes

No Man’s Sky might have been out for over a year, but developer Hello Games is still supporting it in a big way. A huge new update, dubbed Atlas Rises, is coming to PS4 and PC today, adding “joint exploration,” a “graphical overhaul”, and 30 hours of new story content.

Multiplayer was a much-requested feature after No Man’s Sky launched in 2016, and finally you can play with other humans–sort of. You’ll be able to see, communicate, and “explore the universe” with up to 16 other players, but they’ll be represented simply by glowing orbs, and Hello Games admits that “interaction with others is currently very limited.” It sounds like the developer is planning on taking this further, however, as it calls the move “an important first step into the world of synchronous co-op in No Man’s Sky.”

The company also says the 1.3 update introduces 30 hours of new story content. Included in this is a new quest system and a branching narrative, along with “double the lore and interactions of the existing game.” New NPC guilds have also been introduced, while the economic, trading, and crafting systems have been expanded.

You can now edit the terrain of the world around you, meanwhile, using a new item called the Multi-Tool. This allows you to sculpt landscapes as you see fit, to help customize and enhance your base. In addition, the diversity and visual quality of planets have been improved, and ancient portals allow you to revisit previous worlds. Finally, space combat and low flight have received a bunch of small enhancements, and there are now more ships available to buy.

You can read all the details here, or check out the patch notes at the bottom of this article. Previous No Man’s Sky updates have also been substantial, adding features like base-building and land vehicles.

Hello Games founder Sean Murray said earlier this week that it had been “an exciting, intense, and emotional year for us at Hello Games.” He added: “We have been quiet, but we have been listening intently. We’ve spent that year working hard on free updates for this game our team cares about so much.”

No Man’s Sky Update 1.3 Patch Notes

Generation

Increased variety in weather, planet, and structure names

More base building parts have unique names

Prevented trees spawning on sheer cliffs

Improved object placement on slopes

Improved grass placement and density

Changed the default starting ship model

Regenerated galaxy to remove differences between survival, normal, and creative game modes

Improved building distribution

Increased distribution of heridium deposits

Improved generation of beaches along shorelines

Repositioned player bases to accommodate generation changes

Exploration

Improved balance of hazards between planets

Improved settings for hazard damage and strength

Reduce cave hazard recharge times

Added Shielding Shard to the starting player inventory

Limited the depth at which buildings can spawn underwater

Gameplay

More tech available in tech shops

Balanced tech shop standing requirements

Standing lights have a proper name when you interact with them

Increased robustness of systems for locating buildings

Increased number and types of objects which can be scanned

Increased information available about scanned foliage and creatures

Improved planet resource lists

Craftable products now sorted by most recent use

Improved differentiation of weapons

Fixed pinning product recipes and technology guides

Continued story unlocked through abandoned buildings

Added interactions and dialogue options for many structures and characters

Overhauled secondary character interactions

Joint exploration has been introduced allowing 16 players to see visual representations of each other in game. Joint exploration does not require PS Plus, and is not currently available on GOG Galaxy.

Trade and Farming

Alloys, farm products and new gas products now form separate branches of a larger craft tree

Added new valuable higher tier craft products

Added new harvester to harvest atmospheric gases

Added new trade specific products

Added new farmable Star Bramble plant

Added larger 4 plant hydroponic tray

Increased contrast between picked and unpicked resource plants to more easily tell them apart